Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1887-07-02
CHAPTER XVII.
THE TWELFTH OF FEBRUARY,


John soon settled down into tho routine of
camp life in Pretoria, which, after one onco
got accustomed to it, was not so disagrecablo
as might havo been expected, and possessed,
ut any rate, the merit of novelty. Although
he was III officer of the army, John preferred,
on tho whole, having several horses to ride,
and, his services not being otherwise re-
quired. he made up his mind to ell
roll himself In tho corps Of mounted vol
unteers known rs tho Pretoria carbinecrs, in
the humble capacity Of II sergeant, md this
he obtained leave to do from tho officer COM
handing tho troops. Ho was an active man,
and his duties i'll connection with tho corps
kept him fully employed during most Of tho
day, and sometimes, when there was OUTPOST
duty to be done, during II good part Of tho
night too. For tho rest, whenever
no got back to tho earthly
which ho had stipulated he should
be allowed to sleep in order to protect
Jess i'll case of any dangcr-he always found
her ready to greet him, and every little
preparation made for his comfort that was
possible under tho circumstances. Indeed, rs
time went on they found it moro convenient
to set up their own little mess instead of
sharing that of their friends, and so they
used every day to sit down to breakfast and
dino together at n littlo table rugged up out of
u packing case, and placed under All extern
porary toni, all for tho world like II Young
couple picnicking on their honeymoon. OF
course the whole thing was very irksome
in u way, but it is not to BIO denied that
it had a charm Of its own To begin with,
Jess, when once ono got thoroughly to know
her, was ono Of the most delightful COM
paniOns to n man like John Mel that it
was possible to meet with. Never, till this
long tetc a toto ut Prctoria, had he guessed
how powerful and original was her mind.
Or how witty she could BIO when sho liked.
There was a fund of dry and suggestive
humor about her which. although it would
no moro bear being written down than
champagne will bear standing in a tumbler,
was very pleasant to listen to, moro especially
as John soon discovered that he was tho only
person so privileged. Her friends and ro-
lations had never suspected that Jess was
humorous. Anotll@ thing that struck him
about her, as time went on, was that she was
growing quite handsome. She had been very
pale and thin when ho reached Pretoria, but
before u month was over she had got, com
paratively speaking, stout, which was an
enormous gain to her appearance. Her palo
face, too, gathered n faint lingo of color, that
came and went capriciously, like starlight on
the water, and her beautiful eyes grew deeper
and more beautiful than ever.
"1Hho would ever have thought that it was
tho anne girl" said Mrs. Neville to him,
holding up her hands as she watched jess
solemnly surveying q half cooked mutton
chop; "why, she used to DO such a poor crea-
ture, and now she's quite a fino woman. And
that with this life, too, which is wearing mo
20 a shadow, inc has half killed my dear
daughter"
II suppose it is being In the open air." said
John, it having mover occurred to him that
tho medicine that was doing Jess so much
good might be happiness. But SO it was. At
first there had been a struggle, then a lull,
and after that an idea. Why should she not
enjoy his society while she couldl Ho had
been thrown into her way through no wish
Of hers. She bad no desireto wean him from
Bessie; or if she had q desire, it was one she
was far too honorable q woman to entertain.
He was perfectly innocent OF the whole story;
to him she was tho young lady who happened
to DO the sister Of the woman he was going to
marry, that was ali. Why should sho not
pluck her innocent roses while she might
She forgot that the rose is u flower with O
dangerous perfume, and one that is apt to
confuse the senses and turn tho head. 80 she
gave herself full swing, and for some weeks
went nearer to knowing what happiness
really meant than she ever had before. What
a wonderful thing is tho love Of q woman in
its simplicity and strength, and how it gilds
all the poor and common things Of life, and
even finds a joy in service! The prouder the
woman tho moro delight does she extract
from her self abasement before her idol. Only
not many women can love like jess, and
when they do they almost invariably mako
some fatal mistake, whereby tho wealth Of
their affection is wasted, or worse still, be-
comes q source Of misery or shame to them
aoluos end othera
CONTINUED